Man, it’s been a while since we got our plastic instruments out – possibly as far back as the original Guitar Hero as game 184 – and while we’ve had other peripherals for individual games, the setup needed to play these games has made me want to do them in bulk. I’m not quite doing that (yet), but as this game only needed a single guitar, this seemed like the point to bring it back.

Guitar Hero 2 is what it is, the sequel to the original game. The feeling I get with these games is that it’s, well, more songs, and I’m hoping there will be more than this.

Our Thoughts

So what’s different? There’s a practice mode, which would help me learn the songs better, focusing on single sections – something I didn’t explore as much, because for the blog I want to see a lot, but that would have been useful down the line. The tutorial felt like the best I played for these games – it’s good to pick up on what’s going, but doesn’t feel as long. It felt more playable in a way.

But I think I struggle a bit with these games because of the nature of this blog. I don’t want to spend ages learning songs, I want to see everything that happens in the game and try to get the full experience. Here, however, it’s about learning and mastering the songs, getting used to the rhythm and learning the flow of the game that way. I mean, it’s part of the reason why I’m looking forward to replaying this without the pressure of some three hundred more games behind me.

Still, the game’s song choices are great and they make for a great set in career mode. It feels like a bit of shame that you can’t play them in free play straight away, but need to unlock them through the career mode first. It’s a fun mode to play – obviously the actual single player game, but the game is made for, and feels big in, multiplayer, with the play against each other being more important for the parties these games became big at.

Final Thoughts

I played the first Guitar Hero nearly six years ago (that feels depressing to hear…) so I don’t think I remember the details enough to compare. The broad strokes of gameplay are the same, effective as they are, and as a sequel it feels like it mostly adds new songs (possibly with more licensing options) and tightens the gameplay quite a bit. It’s smooth, well polished and plays well, probably the most important quality you need in the game.